


drive out and find you

by RobinJuncadella



Category: Formula E RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, loads of hugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinJuncadella/pseuds/RobinJuncadella
Summary: ...and they became teammatesOrRobin craves a hug and things start to blossom from there
Relationships: Robin Frijns/Nico Müller
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from When it don't come easy by Patty Griffin
> 
> so.. at first this was supposed to be just a long fic, not multi-chaptered. But plans changed (like they always do). I've been working on this for a while now, and I really couldn't wait to post the first chapter. I am very busy with school tho so Idk when the next chapter will come but I'll try my best to get it out there asap.
> 
> It just started of with 'something with hugs' cuz I love hugs and now it's this!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this! <3

Robin craves a hug, craves some physical contact, which he considers weird. He doesn't like hugs, right? He's in Hockenheim for his first-ever DTM race weekend, his first race doesn't quite go as planned. He started 17th, after a disappointing qualifying for all of the Audis. It wasn't even that bad, having outqualified two of his Audi teammates. But he wanted more.

He'd made up two places right at the start, passing Eng who didn't get away quite well and Duval before the first corner. After the first lap he was already up to 14th; it was set to be a good race, he thought. But soon he found out he just didn't have the pace and had already fallen back to 18th just before his pitstop. A position he would hold onto for the rest of the race.

He's quite disappointed, he was excited about his first race and he hates that it ended like this. It's racing, he knows, but it doesn't keep him from being disappointed. He'd had disappointing races before, a lot. But he'd always have someone to go to, a friend coming to his race, a team member or a teammate he'd known for a while.

But here he was with a new team, he'd been with Audi for a while, but never worked with the ABT guys before. And a new teammate, he knew Nico. They'd done a few endurance races together, crossed paths in a few series. But he wasn't someone Robin would come to, to seek comfort.

He feels a bit pathetic, needing someone to comfort him. But he just can't resist the need for a hug.

He sighs and sits down on his hotel bed, all he can wish for is a better race tomorrow, and a hug. He shakes his head, trying to push the thought away. He has to focus on the race tomorrow, not the stupid need for a hug.

Not much later he falls into a light restless sleep. Everything feels weird that weekend, he doesn't sleep well. Which was basically all he did besides racing. He craves physical contact, something he barely did, right? And he just doesn't feel, normal? Is that the word, doesn't he always feel abnormal?

The sound of an awful noise spreads across the room. Robin lets out a groan and pushes the snooze button, wanting just a little bit more sleep. Five minutes later, which feels more like a minute for Robin, his alarm goes off again. He lets out another groan and pushes himself out of bed. He was already running late, like always.

He makes it to the circuit, just in time. He hates these early mornings, having to be at the circuit at 8 because the practice session starts so early. He wouldn't have it any other way though, racing is what he lived for an sometimes it came with sacrificing his sleep, unfortunately.

He qualifies 15th, which is better than yesterday, at least. And in front of Nico, but it's not enough. He wants more, he wants points, that's what he aims for this race. He even gets promoted up to 14th on the grid with Spengler having to start from the back due to a penalty. He hopes it'll be a good race.

He gets a good start, nearly avoiding Mortara who doesn't get away from his starting position. The car feels way better than yesterday. He feels like he has the pace, the pace to get into the points. After the first lap, he's already up to P11, just one position away from the points. He stays behind Wittmann for a while, the only car separating him from the points. In the ninth lap, he's finally close and makes the move, passing Wittmann for P10. He's behind Duval now, eager to make up more places.

He moves up quite a few places as others in front of him go in for a pit stop. He even takes the lead for a few laps, being one of the last drivers to pit. When he finally goes in for his mandatory pit stop, it goes wrong. He loses way too much time during to stop and falls back to 13th, three drivers in front of him he'd already passed.

He's lucky he's got way fresher tires than the cars in front of him. And tries to use it as an advantage to get into the points again. He fights with Auer for almost five laps, wearing his tires a lot. With nine minutes left, the next car in front of him is Nico's. The Swiss's tires are worn, an easy target Robin thinks. He eventually passes Nico, he's up to P12. But he realizes there's not much more in store of him, Wittmann in P11 too far away. He catches up to Wittmann easily, but then the race is over. No points.

He climbs out of the car and takes his helmet off. He sips his suit open and takes his arms out. He leaves the garage and makes his way to the ABT motorhome. Nico isn't there, which for some reason disappoints him. He wonders how Nico must feel, he'd finished out of the points in both races as well. Would he crave a hug? Just like Robin?

He's so lost in thoughts he doesn't notice Nico coming in. Robin jolts when he feels two hands on his shoulders. He turns around in shock and is faced with Nico, a concerned frown on his face.

"You okay?" Nico asks, letting go of Robin's shoulders.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Robin says with a fake smile, Deep down he just wanted to wrap his arms around the taller man, and bury his head in Nico's chest. He didn't know why, why Nico?

"I know the first weekend in a new series can be quite overwhelming, I mean I'm sure you know. But I'm here if you need any help." Nico says with a genuine smile.

"Yeah, it is, I-I just wanted to score some points and start with a g-good result. And leave a g-good impression, But it just d-didn't work out. And I just really want a hug, and I never really need someone to comfort me. But now I suddenly do and it's just pathetic and-" Robin stutters, letting it all out.

"I could give you a hug?" Nico offers with a slight smile. "It's okay, sometimes you just need one."

Robin nods in response and takes a step closer to Nico. He wraps his arms around the taller man and relaxes. Nico wraps his arms around Robin in return. Robin is relieved, the hug magically taking some of the pressure away he felt all weekend.

"Thank you." He says, taking a step back.

"You're welcome," Nico says. "You can always come to me for a hug."

"Alright, I'll keep it in mind," Robin says with a smile.

\--

A disappointing start to the weekend for Audi again, only two Audis in the top 10 in P9 and 10. Robin qualifies P12, quite disappointed with the result. The race goes off to a bad start as Robin stalls at the start and falls back to 16th, meanwhile Green crashes into the back of Nico which causes a safety car right at the first lap. It takes a while to clean up all the debris when the clock's already down to 40 minutes the race finally restarts. Right after the green flag, Robin gets a 5 seconds pit stop penalty for a jumpstart. He's determined to make up places. He gets past Juncadella right after the restart, only five places to the points. The first lap after the safety car is barely underway and there's another crash, red flag. Right in front of him, Duval hits Rast, which causes Rast to clip the grass which flips his car over and sends him rolling. It's a scary one and all Robin hopes is for him to be okay.

The clock keeps ticking and with only 20 minutes to go, they restart behind the safety car. Robin comes from 14th and quickly makes up a few places as others pit. He slowly climbs up the order as others continue to pit, he eventually gets up to 1st place and is one of the two left to pit. He stays out till the clock counts zero and pits right at the last lap. Still having to take his 5-second penalty, makes him fall down the order again and sees him finish in 13th.

No points, again. No points for any Audi with four cars retiring and Rockenfeller and Robin out of the points.

He gets out of the car and feels the need for a hug creeping up again. Everyone around him is in a bad mood and still shaken because of Rast his crash. Robin wonders where Nico is. He knows the Swiss retired before his race even started and probably doesn't want any company. But he wants a hug and Nico said he could come to him whenever he needed one.

He bites his lip and unconsciously sets foot to the motorhome. He opens the door and finds Nico seated, head in his hands and he wonders if Nico even noticed him.

"You okay?" Robin asks. Nico's face shoots up, confirming he hadn't noticed Robin before he spoke up.

"Y-yeah." A lie, Robin thinks. Nico's eyes are red and puffy. "The start of the season has just been rough I guess, for all of Audi."

"You want a hug?" Robin offers, already cursing himself as Nico probably doesn't even want his company.

"I don't want to bother you."

"You're not bothering me, I ehm- I kinda need a hug as well," Robin says, taking a step closer to Nico. Normally he wouldn't dare to admit that to someone. But, with Nico, it just feels different. He doesn't know why, but it feels good.

"Okay." Is the only thing Nico says. He stands up and pulls Robin in a hug, he lays his neck on Robin's shoulder and sighs. Most of the tension slowly fades away from both their bodies.

The hug lasts very long, an hour could've passed and it wouldn't surprise Robin. It doesn't feel awkward at all, it feels just right and Robin wishes this hug would last forever. It's just so calming and makes all the worries fade away.

Nico pulls away with a smile. "Thanks, like really thanks a lot. It made me feel way better."

"You're welcome, it made me feel better as well I think," Robin says, a bit embarrassed. He could've just left it at you're welcome, and wonders why he didn't do that. "Like you said last time, you can always come to me for a hug," he adds with a smile.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Nico says. He sits down again on the small sofa in the motorhome with a sigh. Robin follows, and only then he realizes how tired he is.

"I need a nap." He yawns a bit dramatically and tries to get comfortable on the sofa. He tries not to touch Nico in the process, which is sort of inevitable considering how small the sofa is.

"Don't you always need one?" Nico jokes as he tries to get a bit more comfortable as well. "Can't blame you though, being that cute must be exhausting."

It takes a moment for Nico to realize what he's said, but when he turns around he sees Robin has already fallen asleep. The worry that had started to build up boils down again and he takes a deep sigh in relief. What if Robin had heard that?


	2. 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had thought he liked Robin for quite a while now, but he had always managed to keep it to himself. Not make any comments, keep his distance. But becoming teammates wasn't as easy as Nico had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thanks y'all for reading the first chapter. It took a while to post this one cuz I'm stupid, but I hope you enjoy <3

Nico can't sleep, something he should be doing considering he has a race tomorrow, but he just can't. He'd left the motorhome shortly after realizing Robin was asleep. He regretted it, but he had no idea what else he should've done. Just sitting there in silence while Robin was asleep, wasn't a much better option either. He just hopes Robin doesn’t mind.

  
He had thought he liked Robin for quite a while now, but he had always managed to keep it to himself. Not make any comments, keep his distance. But becoming teammates wasn't as easy as Nico had thought. 

  
They spend a lot of time together in their shared motorhome, during interviews and debriefs. It was becoming way harder to keep it to himself. Robin wasn’t helping much either, Nico couldn’t blame him. But those hugs made it even harder.

  
He takes a deep sigh and turns around not realizing he was already on the edge of the bed. Before he can catch himself, he falls off the bed and hits the ground with a loud bang. He groans loudly, a bit disorientated considering he was still on his bed seconds ago.

  
He gets up from the floor and heads straight to the bedroom, accepting he isn’t going to get a lot of sleep tonight. He turns on the shower and lets the hot water fall over him. The heat helps him clear his mind and he hopes it helps him still catch a few hours of sleep as well. 

  
It doesn’t work out like he wants to, he does get a few hours of sleep. But really not as much as he wants to. His alarm goes off and all he can feel is his head pounding. He’d rather go back to sleep, but he knows it’s not an option as he has a race today. 

  
He gets ready as quick as possible, barely caring about how he looks. He skips breakfast, which he knows is not a good thing to do but he also knows he won’t be able to get anything through his throat. 

  
He steps into his car and makes his way to the circuit, trying to get into the right mindset for the qualifying session ahead. It sort of works, having to focus on the road makes it harder for his mind to drift off. But when he steps out of the car again as he arrives at the circuit, everything comes back.

  
He tries to get into the right mindset for qualifying. He does his stretching exercises just before he goes into the car. When he looks up once he’s done, he finds Robin staring at him. He gives him a smile which gets him one in return. 

  
He qualifies thirteenth, just in front of Robin in fourteenth. He’s the second-best Audi, and his qualifying time is not too far away from pole but it sucks, qualifying on the back half of the grid. 

  
He prepares himself for the race, hoping to make up enough places to get into the points. It’s not unrealistic, but he knows it will require some luck. He goes to his engineers, discussing their plan for the race ahead. 

  
He finishes seventeenth, which is last. It’s not the race he had hoped for at all. His start was not his best, he fell down the order a bit but managed to regain his thirteenth position quickly. Then only fifteen minutes later with forty minutes left on the clock he went for the pits. When everyone but Duval had done their pitstop he had climbed up to twelfth, but he quickly lost those positions. He fell down three positions in just a few corners and eventually ended up falling to the last place.

  
He’s upset, it was a very bad race. He leaves the second weekend of the season without any points just like he did during the first weekend. The incredible need for a hug creeps up again. 

  
He has a short debrief with his engineers before he heads back to the motorhome. He lets himself fall onto the sofa with a deep sigh. He thinks about what he could’ve done better, what if things would’ve gone differently.

  
“I assume you need a hug,” Robin announces himself, startling Nico.

  
“Well,” he tries to say.

  
“Come here,” Robin says with a smile, opening his arms for Nico.

  
Nico gets up and lets himself fall into Robin's arms. He takes a deep sigh and lays his head on top of Robin’s, looking right over him. It amazes him how easily a simple hug can take all that tension away. He wants to promise himself that this is the last time, knowing he’s already too far into it. But he knows it’s not going to work.

  
Sometimes he wishes he kept disliking Robin, his first impression of him wasn’t good. Back in 2012, when they were both doing World Series, Robin had seemed arrogant. He didn’t talk to anyone, was right on the pace and beat a field where quite some drivers had more experience than Robin. Robin ended up being champion that year while he only finished ninth. Robin later explained it as him being a guy who doesn’t talk first if he doesn’t get a hello he doesn’t say it back either. 

  
It took some time for Nico to appreciate Robin’s personality, but now he knows him better he knows Robin is way more than just some arrogant guy beating him on the racetrack. 

  
“You feeling a bit better?” Robin asks which takes Nico out of his thoughts.

“Oh- yeah, yeah I do. Thanks a lot,” He says as he pulls away from Robin.

  
“It’s no problem,” Robin says with a smile while he moves to sit down on the sofa.

  
“Where did you finish? I’ve been way too focused on my own bad result I forgot to ask about you.”

  
“I finished tenth.” Robin grins. He sips open his race suit and takes his arms out of his sleeves, ready to change himself into normal clothing.

  
“Congrats, your first points!” Nico tells him, genuinely happy for him.

  
“Thanks, wish we could’ve both had some points today though.” 

  
“It’ll come.” Nico smiles, sitting down on the sofa right next to Robin. He yawns, feeling exhausted from the lack of sleep and the tough race he’s just had. 

  
“You tired?” Robin asks, “You should take a nap, naps solve everything.”

  
Nico knows he can’t just fall asleep in the motorhome, it’s better to change into normal clothes and go to his hotel room. But, the invitation to just fall asleep right there seems very appealing.

  
“I won’t leave you like you did yesterday,” Robin says as a joke. 

  
“I- eh, I’m sorry… I didn’t know-,” Nico stutters. He doesn’t really know what to say, not expecting something like that coming from Robin.

  
“It’s alright, now take a nap. You need it.”

  
Nico moves to lean against Robin, looking up to ask permission just before he touches him. Robin nods to give permission, and at that Nico lays down and drifts away almost right away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you like it!

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr! Larrytenvoorde (Subject to change cuz my URL changes 94499 times a year)
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated!


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